Samantha McShane: In an ever-changing cultural environment, how can we reimagine ourselves?

Over the last year, I've had to stop myself in my tracks to really take in the news of funding cuts that we've heard of across the UK. My fear is, in a world of media overload, we become numb to this constant chipping away of culture and just keep on keeping on. I'm approaching my one-year anniversary at Manchester Camerata as creative director, after I returned to the organisation following five brilliant years working with the next generation of musicians at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Having been on that journey, the importance of having flexibility of mind and a capacity for change has never been more apparent. The cultural landscape that we find ourselves in has never required more imagination, curiosity, positive action and change. The question is, in what seems like the survival of the fittest, who has the diversity of thought required to last? 

Despite diversity – in its widest form – being at the top of everyone's priority list in the arts, it seems that the biggest challenge we actually face is diversity of thought. In a sector that is steeped in history and tradition, it does feel that ownership of the form, as well as an inability to move away from traditions that no longer serve us, is really what is holding us back. Manchester Camerata musicians perform alongside artistic partner, violinist Daniel Pioro © Jay Cipriani

Named after the Florentine Camerata, a group of 16th-century musicians, writers and thinkers dedicated to the progress of the arts, Manchester Camerata uses the very same principles to breathe new life into the classics and uncover the music of the future. Our music director, Gábor Takács-Nagy, encourages a child-like curiosity and talks of the importance of freedom of expression over the sort of perfectionism or ego which can often be witnessed in our sector. Gábor, alongside our artistic partners Daniel Pioro, Jess Gillam, Rushil Ranjan, AMC Gospel Choir and Kantos Chamber Choir, combine with our musicians to create a modern-day Camerata. Led by the principles of humanity – originality – excellence and fearlessness, the open-mindedness within our organisational culture leads to a healthy space for debate and discussion, where thoughts are valued and everyone is heard. 

For many years, the identity of Manchester Camerata has been questioned due to our performances ranging from Mozart through to collaborations with local dub-techno pioneers Space Afrika and Hacienda Classical tours. We’re often asked who we really are, and our answer is always that we are for the people of Manchester and our audiences wherever we perform and work. We exist to transform the lives of people, the prospects of places, the diversity of our city and the cultural appetite within it, which needs to be celebrated. 

Our creative direction from the 2024-25 season is heavily influenced by the theme of identity. We'll draw inspiration from music from global traditions, including folk and jazz, exploring how this impacts our identity and the artists around us. We'll also explore the connection between audience and performer and how we can engage deeper, feel closer to our audiences and focus on their experience. We're trying to create meaningful collaboration and interactions with them, have them influence our work and feel part of our orchestra.  

Manchester Camerata musicians acted, played and sang onstage as part of their touring production of OperaUpClose's Flying Dutchman © Alex Brenner

The diversity of our output was evident earlier this summer across a busy two-week period, where our musicians joined our artistic partner Rushil Ranjan to perform the world premiere of Shiwka – a piece that fused Indian classical and Western classical music traditions – then performed a show the very next day with Daniel Pioro that included the UK premiere of a new piece by Holly Harrison. Our tour with OperaUpClose, sees our musicians act, play and sing in Laura Bowler’s reimagined rendition of The Flying Dutchman and, amongst all of this, we also performed at Manchester International Festival with local DJ, composer and producer AFRODEUTSCHE. After presenting her new music at Factory International, we finished the week with a sold-out Hacienda Classical show for an audience of 8,000 at Castlefield Bowl. In a Times review later that week, Richard Morrison called us ‘the most multifaceted bunch of musicians in Britain’, which is something we’re really proud of.

Our 2020 move to Gorton, a culturally diverse but economically deprived area of Manchester, was a very conscious decision. There's a wealth of community work happening across the UK, but the difference between good and great community work is the understanding of societal issues, authenticity of approach, and the evidence of impact – otherwise how we can expect to sustain it?

AFRODEUTSCHE performs with Manchester Camerata at Aviva Studios as part of Manchester International Festival 2023 © Priti Shikotra

In the digital age that we live in, data is a powerful tool for the arts to harness to their advantage. Our world-leading Music Therapy programme for people living with dementia and their carers has developed over the last 12 years in partnership with the University of Manchester. Demonstrating impact has always been a challenge for the arts so we're proud to partner with the University, which enables us to understand our work more deeply through a new PhD which will investigate the relationship between arts and place, more specifically the relationship between Camerata and Gorton in the context of cultural policy and wider debates about the role of cultural institutions in the 21st century.

Our artistically diverse offer, alongside the need for us to learn from the next generation, is why we recently launched Camerata 360°. Through consultation with our musicians, who do both sides of our work, we know that experiences in community positively influence performance and approach to other work. Despite great efforts from higher education institutions, a hierarchy remains between performance and teaching/community work so we want to give recent graduates the opportunity to embed themselves in the 360° experience and develop their understanding of the impact music can have in our society. Who knows what the next 30 years has in store for these musicians, but one thing will surely remain: the power and impact that music can have on our society. Those who remain will have displayed the flexibility and diversity of thought required to adapt to our ever-changing world. 

Manchester Camerata will return to Manchester's New Century Hall on 22 November for a continuation of the orchestra's UNQUIET concert series, bringing iworld premieres to Manchester. Next week the Camerata will present the world’s first Speakers Corner Quartet orchestral show. More information, including tickets, can be found here.